Bongiorno is a military wife and proud mother of two young boys. But 2-year-old Luka and Giovani, who is going to be 4 years old, behave differently compared to other children.

“He stopped giving eye contact. He wasn’t as affectionate as before and he stopped calling me mom, which was the biggest and most heart-breaking thing,” Bongiorno said. “Our youngest, he pretty much lost all his skills at 18 months.”

Both her sons have autism and Bongiorno is not alone. More than half of the clients at this Halawa behavioral treatment facility come from military families.

Next week Thursday, TRICARE is changing its autism coverage. They will require progress testing every six months, and waiver applications for children younger than two and older than 16 years old.